Recently, I watched
the movie ‘The jungle book’ directed by Jon Favreau at“crown”,
one of the oldest theaters in Calicut,which was the
first to screen English movies for both the Anglo-Indian, British and native population of Calicut. As a kid, I
had read the jungle book a couple of times and I still consider Rudyard Kipling
as one of the master storytellers. And yes, in 1969,
Disney pictures presented the story of Mowgli in movie form,
a visual treat to both elders and kids. I am not sure how many times I’ve watched it,but all
the colors and illustration of Mowgli, Baloo
and Shere Khan made me glued in front of the TV, like every other child from my time. We would find
happiness and pleasure in
being ourselves in a fantasy
world, where we would love to fit in. Yes, Disney has a talent to make animation movies
better than many movies,
acted out by “real actors”(no offense!).
This time, Disney came up with the remake
of their old movie, using modern technologies like 3D animation and maybe
motion capture technology. With Ben Kingsley giving voice for Bagheera ,Idris
Elba for Sher Khan and Bill Murray for Baloo, I felt it perfect- the same kind
of voices I had anticipated for the characters. Shere Khan, though the villain
of the story, earns a respectful fear with his tough yet steady and deep voice
of Idris Elba. Baloo was friendly and jovial as always and yes, lazy too. Bagheera’s
voice reflected the concern and caution for Mowgli. I never thought
Lupita Nyongo could convey the expressions especially fear through her voice alone
(she had won an Oscar for supporting actress and she truly deserved it, as she
expressed the rage and protest only with her eyes, as per critics. But in
Jungle book, voice wipes out the strength of eyes.) Raksha, hence became a
character true to her name- safety. In her cameo as kaa, Scarlett Johansen
really did mesmerize us even though there were no spiralling eyes like the
older version which was replaced by a simple golden dilation in Kaa’s eyes. The
central character, Mowgli, was presented by an Indian American Neel Sethi. He
was selected from 2000 kids who were auditioned for the role of Mowgli. For a
kid who has never seen the real Indian rain-forests or a black panther or a pack
of wolves, Neel Sethi has done pretty well. It is noteworthy since he is the
only actor (all others are animated, except the
villagers ).
The highlight of this
movie, like all other Disney movies are the special effects given using animatory
skills. The eyes of Kaa, The ancient temple where King
Louie lives, the characters are all examples of this. The very idea of fire,
which Kipling presents as the” red flower”, is animated in a totally different
manner. When Kaa hypnotizes Mowgli telling his past, we
too get lost in her mystique eyes. In its darkness, a few orange petals like
that of a flower which turns out to be sparks is initially shown. Later they
become flames and engulf the forest. I really loved the details given to the
temple- they had added dancing women’s and God’s forms on the pillars and walls
made of rock and thus showed justice to the heritage of Indian Temples. With
all the elements of humour from the part of Baloo and other minor characters,
the story of the man-cub was presented with all its power, tension and
wilderness. The 3D effect added much to its forest feeling, we really do feel
the dampness of the mud, the dryness of the forest during summer and the
smoothness of Baloo’s honey.
The jungle book teaches us the lesson of
existence, the law according to which our ancestors once lived. In the story,
during the drought of the summer, when every source of water perished except for
one of which the bottom rock is visible (the peace rock) , every animal has the
right to assemble there to drink water without being attacked. This law of the
jungle is been kept even by the villain, Shere Khan. The IPL matches which were
to be held in Maharashtra- a state with perishing water sources- uses every
last bit of water for the sake of an entertainment oriented cricket match makes
the poor people with literally no water to survive look like fools. This
situation is ironical to the above stated law of jungle. We call ourselves the
superior species and fight each other, kill each other for silly reasons and a
book meant for kids with animal characters teaches the highest wisdom of all
“the strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the
wolf”. For sure, the sentence is a symbol and the term wolf is a mere substitute.
I am sure almost all of our parents and grandparents with a moderate reading
habit might have read the book and understood what it means. The question is,
why do they forget that lesson? The
jungle book is one of the 100 examples that teach us the value of unity despite
who we are and here we are, fighting each other. Every character symbolizes the
different humane traits and thus the jungle book becomes a perfect allegory.
But I guess the movie must have taught all
who saw it that very lesson and it must have evoked the sense of how animal
like we are because as soon as the film finished, I could hear voluntary
applause across the theater. Yes, the 3D effect, the well-known plot and the
song of joy “bare necessities” made the whole theater into a jungle with almost
all singing along. We all are Bagheeras and Baloo and Raksha and even some of
our part contains Shere Khan. It is our duty to identify it, mould it and be a
better human. Only then will we be able
to sing and dance even when we lack our bare necessities. Hats off to the
makers of The Jungle Book!!!......
